Salud America! Pilot Awardees
Dr. Dharma Cortes, Mauricio Gaston Institute, The University of Massachusetts Boston
“Esto es Mejor: Improving Food Purchasing Selection Among Low-Income, Spanish-Speaking Latinos Through Social Marketing Messages”
This project aims to examine how the use a low-literacy consumer activation nutrition educational paradigm can increase food literacy and change consumer behavior toward healthy eating among Spanish-speaking Latinos. The purpose is to inform statewide public health policy about the use of social marketing to promote healthy eating in low-income, Spanish-speaking families. To develop a descriptive narrative of strategies that could be used, data will be collected from 20 families using semi-structured interviews, cognitive interviews and Photovoice. A census of local food outlets in Lynn, Mass., will be conducted to create maps showing the location of stores with healthy choices, and open data coding will be used to identify ways to present information on healthy eating.
PowerPoint about Project
Dr. Robert W. Dudley, Community Health Center, Inc., Connecticut
“Healthy Tomorrows for Latina Teens”
This project aims to conduct a midcourse evaluation of Healthy Tomorrows for Teens (HTT), a five-year, multi-component obesity prevention program serving predominately Latina adolescents in New Britain High School (NBHS) in Connecticut. HTT seeks to increase healthy eating, physical activity and leadership skills among adolescent girls. The evaluation will be conducted through 10 focus groups with Latino families and teens and exit interviews with HTT participants. Findings will be analyzed and translated into action plans shared with end users (YWCA of NBHS and the Spanish Speaking Center). Results will help provide information on strategies to attract Latino families to the YWCA, provide staff training and support for advocacy efforts with state legislators and reduce physical education failure rate among Latinas.
PowerPoint about Project
Dr. Claudia L. Galindo, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
“Young Latino Children’s Weight Changes: Examination of Individual, Family and School Factors”
This project aims to examine factors and behaviors that may affect Latino youth weight, nutrition and physical activity. The influence of individual, family and school factors on obesity will be examined. The project will analyze the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten class of 1998 to 1999, which followed children through fifth grade and collected data at the child, parent and school level. The study will compare Latinos to non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks and analyze variation among Latino subgroups (national origin and immigrant generation status). The study results will inform local (Maryland) and national policymakers as to the factors and behaviors to target for interventions and policy vectors for intervention.
PowerPoint about Project
Dr. Zan Gao, University of Utah
“Integrating Dance Dance Revolution to Promote Urban Latino School Children’s Physical Health and Academic Achievement: Project GAME”
This project aims to implement an interactive fitness game, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), into recess and after school to improve Latino children’s physical fitness and academic achievement. The sample will be 280 third- through sixth-graders from an urban, predominantly Latino elementary school in Utah. A repeated measures design will be used and 75 interviews will be conducted to assess students’ experiences with DDR. The data will consist of measurement of students’ daily physical activity, health-related physical fitness, math and reading grades and gaming experiences. The findings will be presented at conferences, published in journals and made available to local policy-makers in order to spread the project to a larger scale.
PowerPoint about Project
